Texas medical professionals carry a heavy responsibility. They are tasked with diagnosing and treating a seemingly countless number of injuries and illnesses. When those medical conditions are serious, any misstep by a doctor or nurse can lead to severe consequences for a patient. In the worst cases, a patient can die as a result of medical error.
A jury recently found that was the case for one woman who died after doctors failed to diagnose and treat her for a deadly blood condition. The woman, who suffered from lupus, arrived at the emergency room exhibiting symptoms that justified specific blood testing, including difficulty breathing and neurological issues. The doctors at the hospital failed to order the test. If they had ordered it, they would have discovered that the woman was suffering from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, a fatal condition if not adequately and quickly treated.
Despite having a numb face and slurred speech, the woman was released from the hospital without any indication of what was wrong with her. A little more than a day later, she returned to the hospital, but by that point her condition was too severe to save her life. Although the hospital claimed that the test would not have saved the woman’s life, the jury thought differently, awarding her surviving family more than $3 million dollars in economic and noneconomic damages.
Because medical professionals carry a hefty responsibility, they need to ensure that they act in accordance with applicable and acceptable medical standards. When they don’t and harm results, then medical malpractice has occurred. Those who have been injured by hospital negligence, as well as those who have lost a loved one to doctor errors, may find it beneficial to speak to an experienced attorney to discuss pursuing a medical malpractice or wrongful death lawsuit. Hopefully then, liability can be imposed like in the case above, and compensation can be recovered to allow a victim or his or her surviving family to put the incident behind them as much as is possible under the circumstances.
